Website Hosting Reviews

If you outsource the development of your website, you shouldn't have your developer buy your web hosting or domain name. You need to keep both your hosting and your domain under your control, and in your name. Use website hosting reviews to vet web hosts and find the right one for your site.

Read control your web hosting account for more details. Disputes happen all the time between website developers and business owners. You need to keep the upper hand by having your web hosting and domain in your name and control. Otherwise, this might happen to you ...

There's a thread currently on Reddit. A web developer created a site for a bar. For some reason, the bar owner never paid for the website. In retaliation, the website creator removed the bar's website files and replaced them with this homepage.

Ouch. That has to hurt. Can you imagine owning a bar, and having folks find a web page like that about your bar? Yep, you're going to lose business.

Use this amusing situation as an example of why you should keep control of your web hosting and domain names. Don't give your web developer control if there's ever a dispute.

Funny Bar Website Homepage Put Up By Web Developer After Not Getting Paid

Hi blog readers,

We received another good question via our blog comments. This time from Dan, who asks -

"Have you tried A4desk, the flash website builder? Is it a good product for a first timer? should I build a website with A4desk?"

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the question. I'm reluctant to recommend any website building software that is Flash based. There's a couple main reasons for this.

1. Flash isn't that search engine optimization friendly. It's true that Google and Adobe, the creators of Flash software, teamed up in 2008 to make it easier for Google to index textual Flash content. However, I've personally never seen a Flash website do that well in natural search rankings. I'm guessing the main reason you want a website is to attract visitors and gain more customers if you're a business. Towards that end, you should create your website in a way that helps you accomplish this goal, and Flash isn't the answer.

2. A huge computer trend right now is tablet adoption. Apple's iPad has been a tremendous seller, and that's a problem for Flash based websites. Why? Well, Apple's founder and CEO isn't a fan of Flash. Therefore, he's made his iPad not compatible with Adobe Flash. You wouldn't want to create a website that won't run well on an iPad.

We suggest you check out Wordpress. Over 20 million websites are using WordPress - it's a great platform that happens to be open source and free (unlike A4desk, which is $40 the last time I checked plus charges for templates). Hostgator is an excellent web host to use with Wordpress. I've already written a full blog article on how to install Wordpress at Hostgator, so just click on the link and read the instructions.

Good luck!

Create a Web Site with A4desk Flash Website Builder Software?

The new Wordpress 3.2 version will release around June 30th. This will be a relatively larger Wordpress release which includes a new streamlined admin interface amongst other features that have developers and users of WP excited.

Staying current with the latest Wordpress release is important. With more than 20 million websites utilizing Wordpress, it makes sense that the platform is a target of hackers looking for security loopholes. Any security vulnerabilities can be exploited by hackers. WP does a good job of working with larger web hosts to catch and then fix any said security issues and keep Wordpress websites safe.

Usually the patches and fixes are rolled out via the lastest Wordpress release. So if your WP version is out of date, your website may be a much easier target of hacker attacks that are preventable. In fact, Google Webmaster Tools have recently begun sending out email reminders to websites that are running older Wordpress versions. They don't want your site to become an easy target for malware inclusion or other security problems because you're using old Wordpress code.

With the automated update feature added to core WordPress a few versions ago, its a lot easier to update Wordpress. Therefore you should make a point of keeping your site Wordpress software up-to-date.

But before you update to the new Wordpress version 3.2, you should know this: WP 3.2 will no longer support the old MySQL4 and PHP4. MySQL5 or PHP5 are the standard now.

If you're using a big, reliable web host like Hostgator, Bluehost, GreenGeeks, Hostpapa, etc. there shouldn't be any issue. Just upgrade as you normally would. However, if you're using a small web hosting provider, or are actually running your own server (I really don't understand why people still do this now days - shared web hosting is so cheap!), then you may run into problems.

Why? Well, if the web server that your website sits on is older, the actual web server may need to be updated to utilize MySQL5 or PHP5. If the web server software isn't upgrade, and you try to update to Wordpress 3.2, you'll get an error message that says something like, "Insufficient Requirements. You cannot install because WordPress 3.2 requires MySQL version 5.0 or higher."

A smart guy named Ryan Duff coded up a neat little WP plugin that can help you figure out if your site is okay to update to WP 3.2. It's called WordPress Requirements Check. Simply download and activate the plugin, and it’ll let you know whether or not you are ready for Wordpress version 3.2.

If you're site isn't ready to upgrade, we suggest it's time for you to find a better, more Wordpress friendly web host. Bluehost does really well with Wordpress sites, and they're cheap. Some people think they're the best blog host provider. Same for Hostgator. In addition, Hostgator has a free website transfer offer where they'll actually help you move your website to their servers if you buy a new hosting package from them. That's a good deal as moving to a new host can be a big hassle.

So, if your Wordpress website or blog isn't ready for Wordpress version 3.2 due to server issues, it's time to move to Hostgator today.

New Wordpress 3.2| Be Careful Before you Upgrade MySQL4 and PHP4 are not Supported. Read this before updating your website or blog to WordPress 3.2. MySQL4 and PHP4 are not Supported. Is your web server ready? ...

GoDaddy wants to teach teenagers how to fight cyber-bullying.

Towards that end, Go Daddy donated $200,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale, Arizona. The money will be used to expand the organization's technology labs, add new computers and incorporate education about how to combat bullies who use the Internet to harass others.

I find this a bit ironic and amusing. Why?

Well, a lot of internet related services companies think that GoDaddy is the biggest cyber bully on the internet. Seriously. GoDaddy is kicking a lot of internet company's a**es.

Just ask Register.com and Network Solutions, who both use to be the big domain registrars on the block. Well, until GoDaddy came around and knocked them down in size. Now GoDaddy is the largest domain registrar on the planet, and it's not even close.

GoDaddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons knows how rough the Web can be when it comes to critics. "I have seen first-hand how mean-spirited people can be on the Internet," Parsons said. "It's just too easy to use a keyboard and a computer as a tool to bully and intimidate people. Go Daddy wants to help young people learn how to deal with cyberbullies ... the right way."

You can see Parsons and GoDaddy dealing with another "cyber bully" right now. Who? Symantec's Verisign security division.

Verisign is the current largest player in SSL certificates. GoDaddy has entered the SSL market place, and slashed prices. It's a fight that will take a few years to play out. But I'm not betting against GoDaddy SSL certificates (get GoDaddy SSL certificate coupon here).

"We are taking one of my 16 Rules to a whole new level," Parsons said. "Rule number 12, 'Never Let Anyone Push You Around."

One area that GoDaddy isn't having as much success in is web hosting. While GoDaddy does have a sizable percentage of the web hosting marketplace due to the cross-sell to their domain customer base, I would hardly consider GoDaddy a dominant player in web hosting. There are better options out there in website hosting providers, shared web hosts that cost about the same as GoDaddy, but deliver a better end product.

So don't let GoDaddy cyber-bully you around. If you have a domain registered at GoDaddy, you don't have to use their web hosting. Read website hosting reviews, and find the best web host for your site.